2012 - Hong Kong Design Year

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government has designated 2012 as Hong Kong Design Year (HKDY). It will be a year-long programme with a wide array of signature events, promotional and celebration activities to propel the development of Hong Kong as Asia’s design hub and creative capital.

Design is the driving force behind all innovations, applicable to all sectors, industries and professions.

The more design is embedded at the strategic level, the greater its impact is on the sustainable growth and development of an organisation and a city.

Good design can enhance the functionality, usability and desirability of a product/service. For the manufacturers and service providers, good design means efficiency, effectiveness and distinctiveness. It goes beyond aesthetic appeal to help businesses identify and develop new market opportunities at a strategic level.

Design not only creates value for businesses, it also improves quality of life. It plays an increasingly important role in improving public service delivery and in providing innovative solutions to societal challenges, be it environment, education, housing, transport or aging population.

Asia is fast becoming the largest economy in the world and it will eventually become the largest market and provider for design services. Hong Kong is well positioned to benefit from these developments with its strategic location in the Pearl River Delta - the world’s largest manufacturing base with progressively enhanced innovation capability. Coupled with the increasing number of Hong Kong brands expanding into the mainland and international markets, the demand for industrial and product design, and branding is set to grow at a phenomenal rate.

Hong Kong is also the most service-oriented economy in the world. Many of its home-grown service brands are already world leaders in service design. There is enormous potential for Hong Kong to become a leading service design centre in Asia, especially in areas such as financial services, retail and hospitality, transport and logistics, education and health care.

Last but not the least, Hong Kong has a rich and diverse pool of world-class design and related professionals in humanities, business and technology application. It is in a privileged position to foster an inter-disciplinary and cross-sectoral approach to design.

In conclusion, it is an opportune moment to launch the Hong Kong Design Year. CreateHK, and the Hong Kong Design Centre, together with our partners and supporting organisations, will seek to enhance society wide understanding about the value of design as well as international awareness of Hong Kong’s strengths as a design hub. We hope to attract more design talent to Hong Kong, and that more of our talented young people will choose design as their career. We also look forward to facilitating a dialogue with major stakeholders on how we can further the development of Hong Kong as a world class design city.

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